Lebanese Premier Renews Pledge of Support for Guerrillas ‘sacred Action’

Premier Abdullah Yafi of the Lebanon lined his government up squarely with the Arab terrorist organizations today and told newsmen in Beirut that “we consider Arab commando action legal and sacred action.” He said the Israeli attack on the Beirut Airport would not weaken Lebanon’s support of the Palestine Arab guerrillas including those who had attacked the Israeli airliner in Athens last Thursday.

The so-called Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which claimed credit for the Athens attack, issued a statement today threatening to strike back at Israel in retaliation for the Beirut attack “in the manner we see fit.” It indicated that its next target would also be an El Al plane. The statement asserted that the two men who had carried out the attack in Athens had not been based in Lebanon, but, assertedly, in a guerrilla camp located in Israel-occupied territory.

In Athens today, the two accused Arab gunmen were brought before a magistrate separately for pre-trial examination. The court designated attorneys for the two men.